Seam construction



1935. F. 5. DE BEER 1,988,722

SEAM CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 15, 1934 ORNEY Patented Jan. 22 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SEAM CONSTRUCTION.

Frederick S. de Beer, Albany, N. Y. Application September 15, 1934, Serial No. 744,115

9 Claims. (01. 2273-60) This invention relates to-the art of making seams and has to do more especially with the manufacture of baseballs and kindred articles such as playground balls and the like.

5 The underlying object of the invention is to devise a cover seam for baseballs and the like which is in all respects suitable for the purpose but substantially less costly than the conventional herringbone seam ordinarilyemployed on baseballs. This object is achieved by resorting toa radically novel form of seam construction which permits of a great reduction in the number of stitches required per ball without in anyway impairing the strength of the seam or its workmanlike appearance.

The novel and salient features of the invention will be pointed out in connection with the detailed description to follow, having reference to the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 illustrates a finished baseball havinga cover scam in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged external view of a short strip of the cover seam as applied to the baseball of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the under side of the seam;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a cover-edge; and

Fig. 6 is a similar enlarged view of the complementary cover-edge.

Aside from the novel seam structure, the baseball illustrated in Fig. 1 is of conventional design having a solid spherical core and a cover enveloping the core consisting of two substantially identical figure-of-eight shaped pieces of horse l hide or other suitable material joined together by a seam which forms the subject matter of the invention. The two cover pieces are identified on the drawing by reference numerals 1 and 2, respectively, while the seam, as a whole, is

45 indicated by numeral 3.

The seam is illustrated in Fig. 1 approximately as it appears to the casual observer; but for the details of its construction it will be necessary to refer to the enlarged views, Figs. 2 to 6 inclusive, which illustrate a short strip of the seam including the cover-edge portions which are joined together to form the seam.

The configuration of the edges of the cover pieces is shown in Figs. and 6, respectively, from which it will be observed that each coveredge is formed with a series of lineally spaced laterally extending projections 4, the free extremities of which are perforated at 5 and 6, and a series of spaced perforations 7 which may conveniently be in the form of slots as shown. The function of perforations 5 and 6 is to facilitate sewing the-thread, which binds the seam, to the ends of the projections, and the perforations 7 are provided to permit the free extremities of the projections of each cover piece being drawn through the other and secured on the under side.

In closing upthe scam the cover-edges shown in Figs. 5 and 6 are drawn together as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 and the free extremities of the projections are passed through the perforations 7 and turned back underneath the cover as is clearly shown in Fig. 4.

' Sewing up of the seam is accomplished by passing a single thread 8 through the perforations in the free extremities of consecutive projections, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4, the thread following a zig-zag course across and along the seam.

The sewing operation is simple and fast because the number of stitches required is relatively small, yet the seam is strong and the thread is entirely concealed from view.

It will be self-evident that, if desired, the seam could be reversed, putting, what has been before described as the under side of the seam, on the outside, and, vice versa. That, of course, would expose the thread to View, which would not be objectionable in some cases.

The pitch, that is, the center tocenter dimension between projections 4, as measured along the seam, can be made large or small; and, likewise, the length of the projections. The smaller the pitch the finer is the seam and the better its appearance; but, the finer the scam the greater is the number of stitches and, hence, the greater is the cost of production.

It follows that for the very cheapest merchandise the pitch of the projections would ordinarily be quite large while for the better grades a finer pitch should be selected. On the other hand, for large balls a relatively coarse pitch seam may be employed without unduly detracting from the appearance.

What is claimed is:

1. A ball of the class described comprising a core and a cover enveloping said core, said cover having a seam consisting of adjacent coveredges at least one of which has portions overlying the other cover-edge and drawn through perforations formed in said other cover-edge at a plurality of spaced points along the seam.

2. A ball of the class described comprising a core and a cover enveloping said core, said cover having a seam consisting of adjacent coveredges, at least one of which is formed to present a series of lineally spaced laterally extending projections, said projections each overlying the other of said cover-edges and anchored at its free extremity.

3. A ball of the class described comprising a core and a cover enveloping said core, said cover having a seam consisting of adjacent coveredges each of which is formed to present a series of lineally spaced laterally extending projections, the projections on each of said coveredges alternating with those on the other and overlying the opposite cover-edge, each of said projections being anchored at its freeextremity.

4. A ball of the class described comprising a core and a cover enveloping said core, said cover having a seam consisting of adjacent coveredges, each of which overlies and is drawn through perforations formed in the other cover-edge at a plurality of spaced points along the seam.

5. A ball of the class described comprising a core and a cover enveloping said core, said cover having a seam consisting of adjacent coveredges at least one of which is formed to present a series of lineally spaced laterally extending projections, each of which overlies and is drawn through a perforation individual thereto formed in the other cover-edge, said perforations being situated at a plurality of spaced points along the seam in registration with their respectively associated projections.

6. A ball of the class described comprising a core and a cover enveloping said core, said cover having a scam consisting of adjacent coveredges each of which is formed to present a series of lineally spaced laterally extending projections, the projections on each of said cover edges alternating with those on the other and overlying the opposite cover-edge, the free extremity of each of said projections being drawn through a perforation individual thereto formed in the other cover-edge.

'7. A ball of the class described comprising a core and a cover enveloping said core, said cover having a seam consisting of adjacent coveredges, at least one of which is formed to present a series of lineally spaced laterally extending projections each of which overlies and is drawn through a perforation individual thereto in the other cover-edge, said perforations being situated at a plurality of spaced points along the seam in registration with their respectively associated projections, and a thread underneath said cover attached to the drawn-through extremities of said projections and functioning as an anchoring means therefor.

8. A ball of the class described comprising a core and a cover enveloping said core, said cover having a seam consisting of adjacent coveredges each of which is formed to present a series of lineally spaced laterally extending projections, the projections on each of said coveredges alternating with those on the other and overlying the opposite cover-edge, each of said projections being drawn through a perforation individual thereto in the other cover-edge, said perforations being situated at a plurality of spaced points along the seam in registration with their respectively associated projections, and a thread underneath said cover proceeding in a zig-zag course across and along the seam and connected with the drawn-through extremities of said projections in seriatim.

9. In an article of manufacture, two sheets secured together in edge-to edge relation, the adjacent edges of said sheets being formed to present a series of lineally spaced lateral projections, each projection on each sheet extending individually between a pair of consecutive projections on the other sheet and overlying the other sheet, each of said sheets having a series of spaced perforations, the free extremities of each of said projections being drawn through one of said perforations individually, and a thread attached to each of said free extremities and extending in a zig-zag course across and along the line of the joined edges, said thread functioning conjointly with said projections to bind said sheets together.

FREDERICK S. DE BEER. 

